twisted // tyler seguin

eighty-two

"Hey, congrats on everything." 

Tyler fucking Seguin, one year later. Standing in front of me, congratulating me on a newly found modeling career. If you told me this is where my life would end up months ago, I'd laugh. Hard. 

I struggled with formulating an answer. Julia looked at me with wide eyes, as if she were waiting for a response. "Thanks," I said, looking away.

"Wow, it's been a while since you guys have been together. You know, like in the same room." Julia started to ramble as an attempt to resurrect what history we had. "Well, not that we're in a room, we're in a backyard, my backyard, but you know." She shrugged. There was still silence between Tyler and I. "Well, I'm gonna get going. Tyler, it's great to see you." She gave him a warm hug before giving me one last look. 

And then it was two. 

"So, how have you been? It's been a while. Julia's house is-"

"Tyler," I snapped. I continued to struggle with finding words. "This is just.." I motioned towards nothing. "I haven't seen you in a year."

"I know, Sav." 

My heart instantly dropped to my ass. Sav. Adriana called me Sav, Steve called me Sav, my coworkers at Joyeux called me Sav. Yet it was something different when he said it. It always was.

"I don't know what to say to you." I scoffed. "365 days."

There was another silence. I took a good look at him this time, making use of the awkward silence. His hair has grown considerably since our last interaction- it began to curl at the nape of his neck. The beard that gave me security and the sweats was grown in perfectly. And of course, his tattoos were out to play as he wore a short-sleeve shirt that hugged him perfectly. 

"Well, I mean I could start. You can ask me anything." A sheepish grin crept on his face. "I'm an open book." A slight giggle left his mouth. 

My eyebrows furrowed- upon a second look, I noticed his face was a bit redder than usual. "Okay. My first question- are you drunk?"

Tyler scoffed. "No, why? I'm not drunk I just got here." He shuffled around. "What makes you think that I'm drunk?"

"Your face is red. Y'know, back in our days we used to get drunk a couple of times together."

He ran a hand through his hair while showing another smile. "Okay, you got me. I've actually been here a while. Your sister invited me, but I was too nervous to approach you so I had to take a couple of shots. I might've taken them too fast. It happens. Right?"

My lip curled. "Tyler, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"Huh? Oh no, no not like that. I wasn't referencing what happened, I swear." He became more flushed in the face. "Fuck," He mumbled.

Another silence. 

"Sav, I- I'm struggling here. Is there somewhere private we can sit and talk?" Tyler pleaded.

"Yeah, Julia and Brandon have a balcony outside their bedroom, we can talk there." I motioned my head for him to follow me. On our way to our confidential meeting, I grabbed a margarita from the bartender to prepare myself.

-

Facing the Spring sunset that was setting, me and Tyler struggled to find comfort in each other's presence. His hands kept running through his hair while I kept shaking the ice in my glass. The answer I eluded for a year seemed to have found me and trapped me in a corner that I couldn't possibly leave. It was suffocating. 

"Savannah," Tyler finally started. "I know it's been a while. A long year." His gaze shifted from the sunset and into my eyes. "I'm proud of you. Your sister told me what's been going on, with that guy Steve and his apartment, you handling your own. I'm proud of you."